1. Make sure you have a paper Chinese dictionary that includes Pinyin. Locate the dictionary section that corresponds to words in Pinyin. In most dictionaries, this section is usually found at the beginning or the end of the book.
2. Find the Pinyin section that matches the pronunciation of the word that you want to look up. Pinyin uses letters from the Latin alphabet to represent the sounds of Mandarin Chinese. For example, if you want to look up the word [nǐhǎo] (你好), look for the section that starts with "ni" and then search within that section.
3. Navigate through the Pinyin section until you find the word you are looking for. You may need to read through several pages in order to find it, especially if it's a common word.
4. Once you have located the word in Pinyin, look for the corresponding Chinese character next to it. Paper dictionaries in Chinese usually display the Chinese character alongside its pronunciation in Pinyin and its meaning in the target language (in this case, English).
5. Read the word's meaning in the target language in order to understand its definition and usage.

Remember that searching in a paper dictionary can be time-consuming and it requires patience. Our recommendation is to use the Chinesimple app dictionary, which offers faster and easier searching.